What happens to coronavirus patients in ICU will vary depending on the individual patient’s needs. In COVID-19 people are commonly transferred to intensive care due to low oxygen levels, requiring additional support to ensure enough oxygen is delivered to the body’s vital organs and tissues. In this situation patients may require intubation and mechanical ventilation.
Sometimes, other methods of assisting breathing are used such as non-invasive ventilation (NIV) or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This doesn’t always need to be done in an ICU environment, it depends on how stable the patient is and how they respond to the treatment. Turning patients onto their front (known as ‘proning’) is also often used to improve oxygen levels.
Occasionally, patients may require support of other organs, such as the kidneys, or medications given intravenously if blood pressure is dangerously low. Other treatments include administration of adequate nutrition and fluid, sometimes administered via a tube that goes from the nose into the stomach (an NG tube) if they are unable to take in adequate nutrition orally.
All patients in intensive care are closely monitored by the doctors and nurses on the unit, so that they can respond quickly to their individual needs.